Call to Action to the European Commission to Urgently Address the Health Workforce Crisis and the Upskilling of Healthcare Professionals

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p>\n<p>Civil Society and healthcare organizations, together with Patient Advocacy Groups (PAGs) and EU umbrella patient organizations - a total of 42 entities from 16 Member States, all united in protecting the health rights of European citizens - recently wrote an open letter to the newly elected European Commissioner for Health to express serious concerns about the healthcare workforce crisis in Europe, which requires immediate and comprehensive action from the highest levels of political leadership. With 15 million healthcare professionals, constituting over 7% of the EU workforce and almost 4% of the EU population, their indispensable role in ensuring the well-being of our citizens and fostering trust in our healthcare systems cannot be overstated. The relevance of the initiative did not leave indifferent the Members of the European Parliament, some of whom formally supported the message. The new EU Institutions are called upon to address the health workforce crisis by supporting healthcare professionals’ knowledge acquisition and upskilling, which are the main preconditions for greater protection of patients' rights across Europe.</p>\n<p><strong>Keywords: </strong>European elections; Public Health; European Union; Patients’ Rights; skill shortage; medical desertification; job strain; healthcare workforce; CSOs; PAGs; HCPs; COVID-19; knowledge acquisition; upskilling; EU Institutions.</p>